


The Seven-Day Man

by puss_nd_boots



Category: Initial'L (Band), SCREW (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, M/M, Oral Sex, Painplay, Wall Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-27
Updated: 2018-02-27
Packaged: 2019-03-24 16:17:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13814853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/puss_nd_boots/pseuds/puss_nd_boots
Summary: Jin has become very aware of his new neighbor, a guy with a very unusual habit – he picks out a person, dates them for a week, and then dumps them. When Jin sets out to find out more about Byou, he finds there might be more going on with him than he bargained for.





	The Seven-Day Man

**Author's Note:**

> The now-disbanded SCREW was property of PS Company, Initial'L is property of Battle Cry Sound Company, I own the story only. The basic plot of this story is based on Tachibana Venio and Takarai Rihito’s manga Seven Days. Written for the vkyaoi fic exchange.

The first time that Jin saw his new neighbor was when he came down the elevator after finally, finally finishing his move.

He’d spent the whole day unpacking box after box after box, thinking that you never knew how many possessions you had until you moved into a new apartment – and at that point, you found yourself saying, “Why the hell did I buy all that stuff?” But after a seeming eternity of effort and regret, he was finally able to call it a day – and go get a well-deserved beer.

The last thing he was expecting to see was an extremely gorgeous man sprawled across a chair in the lobby.

He found it hard to take his eyes off the guy, all flowing, wavy hair and long limbs, intent on talking into his phone. In fact, Jin damn near walked into another chair, so intent was he at staring.

That’s it, he thought. You need that beer worse than you thought. You don’t normally have your head turned like that. Pretty faces are a dime a dozen.

But this guy was more than a pretty face. He was . . . well, his beauty was almost surreal. Like something you’d see in a magazine. Maybe he was a model or an actor or . . .

Or maybe Jin should just shut up, mind his own business and go get that drink. He’d been working way, way too hard. His mind was starting to go.

He got the hell out of the lobby before he could fall over anything else. That would be one bad way to start his new life.

* * *

But as luck would have it, the second time he saw his new neighbor was when he went to the bar.

He was sitting on a stool, nursing his beer, trying to relax – except a nearby table of chattering and laughing people was sort of getting in the way of that. He turned his head toward the annoyance, wanting to tell them to be quiet . . .

Only to see a cluster of people of both genders who all seemed to be staring at a corner table. He followed the direction of their gaze, just to see what the hell they all seemed to be talking and laughing about . . .

It was that guy he’d seen in the lobby. He was sitting there, cigarette in one hand, drink in the other, attention completely focused on a cute girl with dyed blond hair and a Sweet Lolita outfit sitting opposite him.

So he’s straight, Jin thought. Not only that, he has a girlfriend. And he didn’t know why both thoughts annoyed him so much. Hell, why was he thinking of this guy at all? He’d just spotted him in the lobby, not like he’d had an in-depth conversation with him or anything!

The bartender – a guy about Jin’s age whose multiple facial piercings indicated he was most likely an artist or musician when not tending a watering hole – wandered over, noticing the direction of Jin’s attention. “So he’s got you looking at him too, huh?” he said.

“Who does?” Jin said, pretending to play dumb. He didn’t want it too blatantly obvious what was going on.

“He gets the attention of everyone,” the bartender said. “His name’s Byou. He’s in here all the time. That’s his adoring cult, over there. They’re all in here as much as he is, wanting to know if they’re going to be next.”

“Next for what?” Jin said.

“Well, see, this guy has a strange habit,” the bartender said. “Every Monday, the first person to ask him out gets to date him for seven days. And at the end of the week, that person gets dumped. He asks another person out, it starts all over again. And on and on it goes. Never dated anyone for more than a week.”

“Always a different person?” Jin said.

“He’s had some repeaters come back for multiple go-arounds,” said the bartender. “But never the same person twice in a row. I just don’t know what his game is, you know? It’s the damnedest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“How long has this been going on?” Jin said.

“At least a year. Which is as long as I’ve been working here. Usually, his dates come from within his cult, but sometimes, the first person to ask him out is an outsider. Like that girl he’s with now. She just happens to live in the same building as him.”

“So do I,” Jin said. “Just moved there, in fact. I saw him in the lobby on the way here.”

“Oh, really?” said the bartender. “Then you really are a newcomer. I was wondering why I’d never seen you here before.”

“New as they come,” Jin said. “Hell, I never even laid eyes on this neighborhood until I got a job here.”

“Model?” the bartender said.

“You’re a flatterer,” Jin said. “Nope, graphic artist. I’m working for Pear Basket” – an ad agency that handled hip, youth- and street-fashion-oriented brands. “My name is Jin.”

“Kazuki,” the bartender said. “And, yeah, I’m an artist myself, although I’m more of the starving artist variety. That’s why I’m here.”

“Hey, there are worse things you could be doing,” Jin said. His gaze was stealing over to Byou again. He really asked a different person out every week – and dated them for seven days? It was, well, strange, to say the least.

I wonder, he thought, why the strict one-person-a-week timeline? Is he afraid of a relationship? Does he want to make sure nobody ever takes the idea of a romance with him too seriously? And why the hell do I care so much about this, anyway?

He took a long drink of his beer. And he was probably going to need a couple more of those. The move was getting to him even more than he’d thought.

* * *

The next time Jin saw his new neighbor was when he was waiting for the elevator at night. He’d just come in from an evening spent shopping for odds and ends for his apartment until after the stores closed, and then a stop at a ramen place before going home because no way in hell was he cooking. 

He heard a noise in the lobby – sort of like a groaning. He looked over, and there was Byou, pushing the date-of-the-week against the wall and kissing the hell out of her. She was responding, grabbing the back of his head and pulling it closer, grinding her body against his.

If this goes on much longer, Jin thought, I might end up with a free porno show.

The elevator arrived. He stepped to the side so that the couple could stumble past him and through the open doors, because Lord knew they needed to get a room – in every sense of the word.

He couldn’t help but stare at them as the doors closed behind them. I’ll get the elevator when it comes back down, he thought. Though I might have to disinfect it.

And he told himself, over and over, that he wasn’t envious of the woman with the gorgeous man. Nope. Not at all.

* * *

He was back in the same bar the next night, in a position that allowed him to hear the Byou Cult talking.

“It’s Kyoko’s last night,” one of the women was saying. “The seven days are over tomorrow.”

“He’ll keep her,” one of the guys said. “He likes her more than the others.”

“And we all said the same thing about YOU when YOU were the lucky one, you know,” another woman said. “It’s that way with everyone. Seven days, that’s it.”

“Wonder who’ll be the lucky person to get to him first thing tomorrow,” the first woman asked.

“He goes into work early tomorrow, doesn’t he?” the guy said. “The person has got to get to him REAL early.”

“They know his schedule?” Jin asked Kazuki.

“They know everything about him,” Kazuki said. “They’re a cult, I tell you. They talk about him all the time. And believe me, I’ve heard some details.”

“What kind of details?” Jin said.

“Let’s just say they all take full advantage of the seven days that they’re with him. He’s apparently major league hot stuff in the sack. Haven’t heard of a person who’s dated him who hasn’t had a wild time at some point.”

“Just what does this guy do when he’s not servicing his cult one week at a time?” Jin said.

“You ARE interested in him, aren’t you?” Kazuki said.

“I’m just curious. I haven’t heard of anyone like him before.”

“Photographer. He’s with one of the fashion magazines. He’s got an early shoot every Monday – so the cult scatters around the streets around the building by dawn’s early light, so each of them can try to be the first one to ask him out.”

Of course, Jin thought, if they’re all outside, someone who’s in the building already could get to Byou first. Not that I’m going to ask him out. I’m just going to talk with him, since I’m curious. Yep, that’s all. Just curious.

But in his heart of hearts, he knew he wasn’t fooling anyone – including himself.

* * *

He was in the lobby before dawn, making it look like he was waiting for someone he’d planned to meet, flipping through his phone. When he heard the elevator, he glanced up, quickly.

Byou strode out, looking every bit as breathtaking first thing in the morning as he did at prime Happy Hour time. Damn, Jin thought. How can you have it so together at a time when most people look like death warmed over?

The man walked over toward him and paused. “I’ve been seeing you around a lot the last few days,” he said. “Who the hell are you, anyway?”

“Nice way to say hello to someone,” Jin said.

“Well, it seems you’re in the lobby or the bar whenever I am, and I’ve never seen you before this week,” Byou said. “You’ve got to admit that’s a reason to be suspicious.”

“You’re right, it is,” Jin said. “But there’s a damn good reason you haven’t seen me before this week. It’s because I just moved here.”

“And you’ve been doing nothing but hanging out wherever I am?”

“Our paths keep crossing,” Jin said. “Call it fate.”

Byou had a strange, faraway look on his face at that. “I don’t believe in fate,” he said. “Not anymore.”

“Maybe you need your faith in it restored,” Jin said.

“Sounds like you’re asking me out,” Byou said.

“Maybe I am.” Jin stood up, putting his phone in his pocket. “Would you go out with me tonight?”

There was an odd expression on Byou’s face just then – even odder than the one that had passed it before. It looked like thunderbolts were exploding behind his eyes. He took a step back . . . then was silent.

“Yes,” he said.

“Yes, what?” Jin said.

“Yes, I’ll go out with you tonight. And the six nights after that. But that’s all you get. Seven days, and no more.”

“Fine,” Jin said. “I’m fine with that.”

“Give me your number,” Byou said, handing his phone over. “I’ll text you and let you know when and where we’ll be meeting up.”

“Only if you give me yours,” Jin said, handing his phone over as well.

Good Lord, he thought, now we’ve got a date, and we’re going out for the next seven days. I must be nuts.

But it couldn’t hurt, right? He was curious about the guy . . . and how, he was going to have his curiosity fulfilled. Hell, they might even end up friends after all this was over. What was the worst that could happen, right?

* * *

The text came in the middle of the day – Byou wanted Jin to meet him at a restaurant not that far from where Jin worked. He asked his colleagues about the place, and was told it was a “nice, hangout-type place – not too formal, not overly casual. Good place for a first date.”

Byou’s obviously experienced at that sort of thing at this point, Jin thought.

He found the restaurant with no trouble. Byou was standing outside, looking extremely casual – and extremely hot.

Wonder what his adoring harem thought when they heard that I had gotten his dates for this week? Jin thought. I imagine they were pissed off as hell.

“You’re right on time,” Byou said as soon as Jin showed up.

“Good,” Jin said. “I was afraid I’d be fashionably late. I’m a bit rusty on this dating thing. Haven’t done it in awhile.” He looked over at Byou as his date held the door open. “Unlike you.”

“My personal life . . . is my personal life. It is what it is, no questions asked,” Byou said.

“I’m not going to question it,” Jin said as they approached the waiter station. “Hell, I’m just glad you were willing to go out with me.”

There was a pause, before Byou said, “I couldn’t help myself.”

Once they were seated, Byou said, “So why did you decide to settle in our building, of all places?”

“Hey, I like it so far,” Jin said. “Proximity to work, for one thing. I just started with Pear Basket as a graphic artist. Didn’t want to be more than twenty minutes on the train each way.”

“I did some shoots for Pear Basket before I got hired full-time at Ensemble,” Byou said. “They’re good people, for the most part. Well, a few pretentious twits, but you’ll find that anywhere in the industry.”

“So you’re a photographer, huh?” Jin said. “How did you get started with that?”

“How does anyone get started?” Byou said. “Borrowing my dad’s camera. I was taking pictures when I was barely out of diapers. They had to get me my own camera pretty soon because they were sick of me using up all the pictures on theirs.”

“It’s a calling to you, then,” Jin said.

“Never wanted to be anything else,” Byou said. “When I was a kid, I wanted to work for a famous magazine, live in a huge apartment and, well . . .” He caught himself before he could say anything else. “You can see how that turned out.”

“Working for Ensemble isn’t too shabby,” Jin said.

“It’s not Vogue,” Byou said. “But it’s a living. So what about you? How did you end up in this life?”

“I was the kind of kid who got in trouble for drawing in class,” Jin said. “But I never really thought about making art my life. It was just something fun to do. I was more the kid who just wanted to hang out and have fun.”

“So what made you decide on it as a career?” Byou said.

“My parents insisted I go to university, and I had to pick a major,” Jin said. “So, art it was. It wasn’t a bad choice, though. I like what I do. And I still have time to just hang out.”

“But not date?

“Like I said, I haven’t dated in awhile. My last relationship fell apart a year ago, and since then? It’s been just hit or miss dates. But it’s really not a huge priority for me. I figure when I meet the right person, I’ll know, right?”

“The right person . . .” There was that faraway look in Byou’s eyes again.

“Huh?”

“Nothing,” Byou said. “So, tell me, what do you think of our neighborhood? Pretty good place to live in, right?”

Jin nodded and began talking about how he felt upon moving in. There’s something about the way he looks when you mention certain things, he thought. Almost like he’s haunted by something in his past. Could that be it? Could that be why he doesn’t date anyone longer than a week? Is there something making him afraid of real love?

* * *

The date moved on from the restaurant to a bar – not the one where Kazuki worked, but an upscale watering hole a few doors down from the restaurant.

“Don’t want to face your adoring throngs tonight?” Jin said as they settled into a table.

“I don’t take dates there,” Byou said. “Not on the first date, anyway. It’s not the kind of place where you impress someone.”

“You don’t have to work hard to do that,” Jin said. “I’m impressed already.”

“Oh?” Byou said.

“Hell, yeah! I haven’t seen very many guys who can juggle a busy career and a really active social life without breaking a sweat. You’ve got more energy than anyone I’ve ever seen.”

“Sometimes, things are necessary evils,” Byou said, softly.

“Come again?”

“Never mind. So tell me about the neighborhood where you were living before.”

Throughout the evening, Jin noticed that Byou would readily discuss certain things about himself – his job, for instance, or his favorite brands of fashion and liquor – but whenever Jin tried to talk about his previous relationships, or his harem of fans, he’d turn the conversation back to Jin. Cagey, he thought. He doesn’t want me to know the secret of how he attracts all those people. Well, I’ll get it out of him by the end of the week.

They lingered until around 11, when they both decided it was a good idea to call it a night, since they had work the next day. “So, did I meet your expectations?” Byou said.

“Meet, and then some,” Jin said. “We’re going out again tomorrow night, right?”

“Every night for the next seven,” Byou said. “I’ll let you know where and when.”

They got back to the elevator. “I’m on the sixth floor,” Jin said.

“I’m one above you,” said Byou. “So we’ll say goodnight here?”

“Yep.” Jin leaned over for a kiss, and Byou captured his lips in a way that conveyed he was even more of an expert smoocher than Jin thought he was. It was deep, but not too intimate, powerful, all-consuming, the kind of kiss you could get lost in for years . . .

Jin pulled back, taking a deep breath. “Well, see you tomorrow,” he said, and got off the elevator quickly, waving as the doors closed. Damn, he thought. If that elevator had been a bit slower, I’d be in danger of breaking my no-sex-on-the-first-date rule.

He turned and started to go down the hall to his apartment, when he almost ran into a short man with long, pink hair, dressed in a black leather jacket, black pants, high boots laced to the top, and a wide-brimmed black hat. Whoa, he thought. I didn’t know I had a neighbor who worked in a fetish club!

“Pardon me,” Jin said. “Didn’t mean to do that.”

The man fixed him with a steady gaze. “I hope you know what you’ve gotten yourself into,” he said.

“Um . . . by moving into this building?” Jin said.

“Him,” the pink-haired man said. “That man. Don’t think that you’re The One . . . because a lot of people have before you. Once you give in, it’s all over.”

“Huh?” Jin said. “What does that mean?”

But the man just continued down the hall, silently, and disappeared into an apartment by the elevator. Jin shook his head. What the hell was that about? By “him,” did this guy mean Byou? And the “it’s all over” crap?

Probably one of the seven-day exes, and a weird one at that, Jin thought. He got out his key, and headed for his own apartment. One day down, six to go.

* * *

The next day, Byou texted that he wanted to meet Jin at a rather swanky gay dinner-and-dance club. Jin wasn’t objecting to that. At least I get to live high during the seven days I’m with him, he thought.

Jin also noticed that the staff seemed very familiar with his date. They greeted him by name, they brought him his favorite drink without asking, they offered a menu of food suggestions that they knew he’d like.

“You take your dates here often, it seems,” Jin said.

“Just the male ones, of course,” Byou said.

“You’ve always gone both ways?” Jin said. “Or is that something you discovered later in life?”

“Does it matter?” Byou said.

“Hey, it does to some people,” Jin said. “I thought I went both ways when I was in high school. Then I found myself in a relationship with a girl where it SHOULD have gone somewhere but, well, it didn’t. My next relationship was with a guy, and it went somewhere. Everywhere. So I knew what direction my chips fell in.”

“Life does that sometimes,” Byou said. “You think you have it all figured out, and it kicks you in another direction.”

“Is that what happened to you?” Jin said.

“I was talking about you,” Byou said. “So tell me about this high school boyfriend.”

He’s doing it again, Jin thought. I think I’m going to find something out . . . and he dodges. Expertly.

When they went out on the dance floor together, Byou proved to be not exactly an expert, but he moved to the beat and was very good at tease-dancing – pulling Jin close to him for a moment, grinding against him, then pulling back.

Damn, Jin thought, he’s great at making sure you can’t get him out of your mind. Gives you just enough to tease you, wonder what else he has to offer . . . and then denies you the rest. He’s testing my resolve to not do anything until at least a third date.

Which, he knew, was the next day. If he keeps up like this, he thought, I may very well give in . . .

And then, his mind filled with a picture of the strange, pink-haired man glaring at him, saying, “Once you give in, it’s all over.” What did he mean by that? Was he warning him not to have sex with Byou? Did Byou have some sort of strange, exotic STD . . . and that was the reason he never dated anyone more than a week?

But he WAS having sex with all his dates, wasn’t he? Kazuki said he’d heard explicit talk from the Byou cult. Why would he do that if he KNEW he could spread a deadly disease?

When they got back to the apartment building again, Jin pushed the elevator button for his floor, Byou pushed his . . . and they started kissing, getting hotter and wetter almost right away. Jin felt heat rising in his body, his heart beating hard, his hands pawing through the other man’s hair . . .

And then, the elevator arrived at his floor. He broke away, breathless, just staring at Byou, who stared back, both glances extremely heated . . .

“See you tomorrow!” Jin said, quickly, ducking through the doors just before they closed and heading back to his apartment – but not without a backward glance over his shoulder at the door the pink-haired man had disappeared behind.

* * *

Jin didn’t give in to Byou after the third date. Nor the fourth, or the fifth.

On the third night, they went bowling. Neither one was good at it at all – but it did give Jin some lovely views of Byou’s posterior as he rolled the ball down the lane. They were making it harder to resist when the other man kissed him in the elevator . . .

But resist he did. His hand hovered over the button for his floor, debating whether to push it . . . and then, the voice of the pink-haired man echoed through his mind again, and he pushed it hard.

The next day, they went shopping together in Harajuku. Neither bought anything, though they tried on some funky outfits and modeled them for each other – and Jin found himself idly wondering if Byou had ever had a quickie in a dressing room. He had to stop thinking like that, or else he wouldn’t be able to resist . . .

But WHY was he resisting? Was there a reason? Was the pink-haired man just crazy, and he was missing out on a golden opportunity for hot fun with a really sexy guy?

Again, the kiss in the elevator was hotter than the night before. Again, Jin pushed his button and jumped out at the last minute.

The next night, the question of why he was resisting was in the back of his head all evening, as they went to another trendy restaurant and another equally trendy bar. Byou noticed, in fact. “Something on your mind?” he said to Jin.

Jin shook his head. “Just work stuff,” he said. “It’s nothing.”

“You can tell me, you know,” Byou said. “I’m all ears.”

“Nothing you’d be interested in,” Jin said. “So, is this place one where you’re a regular, too?”

Back at the apartment building, Jin thought, I’m being an idiot. There’s no reason I shouldn’t be with this guy, right? He’s hot, he’s sexy, and I only have two more dates with him. I should make the most of it, right? Yep. Hell with Mr. Crazy Fetish Guy. I’m going to go up to Byou’s apartment with him, and . . .

They got into the elevator. They started kissing. Byou pushed his button. Jin didn’t push his. The elevator lifted off, the kiss deepened, their tongues brushing against each other . . .

And that voice rang through Jin’s head again. “Once you give in, it’s all over.”

His hand shot out and pushed the button for the sixth floor at the last minute. It stopped, and the doors opened. Byou pulled back from him, panting, looking confused.

“You’re holding out,” he said. There was a genuine sense of wonder in his voice.

“I’m . . I’m sorry,” Jin said, backing out of the doors, quickly.

A look of melancholy crossed Byou’s face. “You’ll be like all the others,” he said. “I know it.”

When the elevator doors closed, Jin started toward his own apartment . . . and then turned and ran in the other direction. He stopped in front of the pink-haired man’s door and banged with a clenched fist.

The door opened, slowly, and the pink head peeked out. “You don’t have to bang my door down,” he said. “What do you want?”

“Answers,” Jin said. “I want answers! Who is he? What did you mean by ‘it’s all over?’ Why does he only date people for seven days? WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HIM?” He shouted the last line, then stopped, panting, running his hand over his hair. “I’m . . . I’m sorry, I . . .”

The other man looked confused. “You really have held out all this time, haven’t you? You haven’t gone to his apartment with him?”

“No,” Jin said. “And there’d better be a damn good reason why I haven’t! You’re one of his exes, aren’t you? You know what the deal is with him!”

The man slowly opened the door. “Come in,” he said. “My name is Yuuki, by the way.”

“Well, then, Yuuki, what’s the deal with . . .”

“Aren’t you going to tell me your name first? It’s rude to not give your name when someone else offers theirs.”

“Jin,” he said. “My name is Jin.” He walked into the apartment. “Now, are you going to tell me about Byou, or . . .”

He suddenly stopped. He didn’t know what he was expecting with this place – S&M chic, maybe, or bachelor slob, or maybe even traditional Japanese. But he was NOT expecting to see all-black décor, charts of the positions of the stars in the heavens on the wall, shelves filled with crystals and incense burners, jars of dried herbs placed here and there . . .

“What is this?” he said.

“Typical for people of my type,” Yuuki said. “You might call me among the magically inclined. I’m of a European tradition, even though I’m from Japan. I was mentored by an old German lady who was living in Yokohama as soon as my gifts were discovered.”

Jin just kept looking around him. There was a table with candles and a deck of Tarot cards. There was another, much smaller, with more candles, a goblet, an incense burner and a huge crystal – an altar of some sort.

“You’re . . . a wizard?” he said.

Yuuki scoffed. “That’s what everyone calls us nowadays,” he said. “Thanks to J.K. Rowling, everyone thinks we play games on brooms and go to fun little boarding schools. Well, I guess it’s better than the old image of us as cackling hags. No, we tend to think of ourselves as the Hidden Wise Folk. And, yes, we do perform magic. We harness the powers locked in nature itself to create change. Though sometimes, it’s a matter of whether it’s nature itself performing the magic . . . or the power of the subconscious mind. The human brain is very susceptible to suggestion. Perform a ritual in front of someone and tell them it will work, and that ritual will come true.”

“What’s all this have to do with Byou?” Jin said. “Did you put a curse on him? DID YOU? Is that why he can’t date anyone for more than seven days?”

“My, how fast you jump to conclusions,” Yuuki said, striding over toward the altar. “Isn’t that how people always are with us? They think we’re either conducting grand wars against evil wizards or slinging curses.”

“ANSWER ME!” Jin said. “Did you put a curse on him?”

“You seem to care about him a lot, given you’ve only known him a few days,” Yuuki said, idly playing with the crystal.

“He’s someone who’s trapped in what SEEMS to be a terrible situation,” Jin said. “He’s not happy about the seven-day thing. I saw the look on his face when I got off the elevator tonight. And he said to me, ‘You’ll be just like the others.’ It’s like he’s forced into this seven-day cycle, and he’s looking for someone to save him from it.”

Yuuki turned toward him. “I’m forbidden from giving away complete information on any spell by the rules of my Order, you know.”

“So you DID put a curse on him!” Jin said.

“No,” Yuuki said. “No, it wasn’t ME who did it. It was a colleague of mine in the Order. Someone who used to live in this building as well, and fell obsessively in lust with Byou. He wanted to have an affair with him, quick and dirty, no emotional commitment. Byou kept turning him down. He said he wanted something with more emotional depth – a true, long-time love affair. And so, my colleague decided to punish him.”

“Oh, my God,” Jin said. It WAS a curse. Byou was trapped in something he didn’t want! He was a romantic who wanted longtime love, and yet, he could only date someone for seven days . . .

“Like I said, I can’t give the details,” Yuuki said. “But this person drugged him with herbs, kidnapped him and forced him to observe a ritual aimed at him. And when it was done, Byou ended up in the state he’s in now. His personal magnetism was increased a hundredfold, but it could be used only to bring him short-term relationships, not love.”

“Is there a way to break the curse?” Jin said.

“The reason I know all this, by the way, is what my colleague did was illegal by the rules of the Order. We put him on trial, and he was banned from performing magic for a year. He lives with one of our Elders now, under constant surveillance . . .”

“PLEASE!” Jin said. “Is there a way to break the curse?”

“I can’t tell you directly,” Yuuki said. “I can only hint at it – and I’ve given you the hint already. So has Byou. In fact, I think you’ve already figured it out yourself.”

“I have?” Jin said.

“Yes. What you have been doing, keep doing it. Now, please go. I need to retire for the evening.”

“But . . .”

“I can say no more,” Yuuki said. “Go.”

Jin turned and rushed out of the apartment, back toward his own. He already figured it out? He wouldn’t have gone to Yuuki if that was the case! What kind of nonsense talk was that?

And then, as he was unlocking his apartment, he remembered what Kazuki had said about Byou, and Yuuki’s words upon his first meeting with the spellcaster . . .

He knew just what the solution was. He was going to make sure Byou was released from the curse, no matter what.

* * *

The next day, the two of them went to see a band that Byou had recently photographed. The live house was filled with enthusiastic young girls, leaping and dancing and waving their arms, so Jin was glad that they were within the safety of the glassed-in sound booth.

He noticed several times during the performance that Byou was pressed up against him, and he was very much aware of the feel and scent of the other man, their closeness . . .

Can’t think too much about it, he thought. Got to keep control. Won’t be able to help him if I don’t, won’t be able to break the curse . . .

It was hard, though. He could see why nobody had succeeded until now. Byou was flat-out irresistible. And knowing that you had only seven days with him, well . . . who wouldn’t take full advantage?

Afterward, rather than a bar, they went to a coffee house – which Jin was glad of. They needed some peace and quiet after all the loudness. “It’s a nice little perk, isn’t it?” Jin said. “Getting to attend shows because of your job?”

“It’s a nice side effect, to be sure,” Byou said. “I’ve gotten to attend plays after I’ve photographed actors, too.”

“You’ve got it made,” Jin said. “An awful lot of people would like to trade places with you, you know.”

“They can have my life,” Byou said, quietly. “Believe me.”

I wish I could tell him that I know, Jin thought. I wish I could tell him that I’ve found out about the curse. But if I do, I might not be able to break it.

As they lingered at the coffee shop, Jin noticed that Byou’s gaze was, well, lingering on him, and moving up and down across his body. Almost devouring him, in fact. Jin had to look away. I have to hold on, he thought. I have to do this.

They went back to their apartment building, and when they were in the lobby, Byou pushed Jin against the wall, kissing him hard. Jin found himself weakening, sagging against the bricks, his knees giving way, his head swimming, his heart pounding. He reached up, tangling his fingers in the other man’s hair, pulling him closer . . .

Oh, crap, he thought. No, I have to stop this, I have to pull myself together. But it’s so damn good . . .

He reached out, put his hands on Byou’s chest and pushed the other man off him. Byou just stood there, looking shocked, breathing hard.

“You only have one more date with me after tonight,” he said.

“I know,” Jin said.

“And yet . . . you’re resisting . . .” The look on Byou’s face was one not of anger, or shock. It was one of, well, wonderment. And, Jin thought, maybe a bit of hope.

“I know my own mind,” was all that Jin said. He quickly walked over to the elevator and pushed the button.

“You’re an incredible person, you know that?” Byou said, walking over to the elevator as well. “You want me, and yet . . .”

“Don’t remind me that I want you,” Jin said. 

“Why . . . why are you resisting?” Byou said.

The elevator arrived and Jin stepped in. “Because it seems like the right thing to do,” he said.

He closed the door before Byou could get in and rode it up to his floor. He’d send it right back down. Tomorrow, he thought. Tomorrow is the day, the last day of the seven. I have to keep doing what I’m doing if I’m going to save him.

* * *

Strangely enough, Jin got no text message from Byou the next day. He kept checking his phone over and over – nothing. He made sure that the battery was charged, that his office hadn’t somehow become a cell dead zone. There was no reason for it not to send him a message . . .

But still, no message came.

He considered messaging Byou – but until then, the other man had always messaged him first. He didn’t want to do anything that would get Byou in trouble at work . . . or, for that matter, interfere with the curse being broken.

Did he have the dates wrong, and the seven days were done already? He flipped to the calendar on his phone – no, this was still the last day. And still, nothing from Byou.

At the end of the day, he left his office and paused in front of the building, looking left, then right, to see if Byou was waiting there for him. Nothing. He went to Kazuki’s bar, peering in the window – the Byou cult were all in there, of course, but the man himself wasn’t.

Did I offend him by pushing him away last night? he thought. Did he call it quits before the week was over? Have I lost my chance to break his curse?

He slouched back to his apartment building. No Byou in the lobby. He pressed the elevator button, looking around, half-expecting the other man to walk in off the street.

When he was back on his floor, he pulled out his key and turned it, and pushed the door open. He walked into his apartment, slowly, and shut the door behind him.

Almost instantly, there was a knock.

He turned around, opened it – and Byou pushed in, grabbing him, kissing him fiercely and pinning him to the wall – like he did last night, but with even more ferocity and intensity.

Jin found himself making a small noise in his throat, kissing back hard, reaching up to tangle his fingers in Byou’s hair. Where the hell did he come from? Why the hell was he doing this? And when Byou’s tongue pushed forward, plunging into Jin’s mouth, he shuddered softly. He was going to give in, he knew it . . .

But he didn’t have to push Byou away this time. The other man pulled back from him and said, “Why? Why have you resisted me? How have you resisted me? It’s the last day, and we’ve still done nothing more than kiss. Aren’t I desirable?”

And he leaned in to kiss Jin again. It’s the curse talking, he thought. It’s the curse making him say that. It doesn’t want me to win. And I have to.

But the more Byou kissed him, the more he ran his hands over Jin’s body, the more Jin was finding that he was weak-willed, that he wasn’t going to be able to resist, he was going to give into his desire for Byou and . . .

Yuuki’s face flashed in his mind. He pushed Byou away from him, like he’d done last night. They stood, staring at each other, breathing hard.

Now or never, Jin thought. I have to do this.

“You’re worth more than this!” he shouted. “There’s more to you than a pretty face and a sexy body! Much more! You’re worth more than seven-day relationships! And you deserve more! What I saw between us this week . . . there’s the potential for a real relationship. But that takes time to grow! It takes more than seven days! And that’s what you need, what you deserve! More than a quick fling and a few fucks!”

And he stood there, panting again, thinking, please let me have guessed right, please let that be the thing that breaks the curse . . .

Byou lurched toward him, looking like he was going to grab Jin again, and for a moment, Jin was terrified. Did I just intensify it? he thought. Is the curse going to turn him into some kind of monster now?

But instead, Byou let out a cry, and dropped down to the floor on all fours. His body spasmed, as if he were having some sort of seizure . . . then suddenly, it relaxed completely, and he collapsed to the floor, limp as a rag doll.

Jin knelt beside him. “Byou . . .” he said, softly.

Byou’s eyes opened. “Thank you,” he said, in a voice barely above a whisper.

“I did it?” he said, surprise in his voice. “I got rid of the . . .”

Byou raised his head. “You . . . knew?”

“Someone tipped me off to it,” Jin said. “He said he couldn’t tell me how to break the curse, but I figured it out. I decided that since the person who put it on you only wanted you for sex, the way to break it was not only to resist having sex with you, but also to make you feel you were worth more than a pretty face and a hot body.” He stroked the other man’s hair. “And you ARE worth more than a pretty face and a hot body, by the way.”

“Nobody else thought that way,” Byou said, gently. “They all started throwing themselves at me the second day of the curse. And the curse wouldn’t let me turn them down. The moment I had sex with them, it was all over. I was doomed to let that person go, and have to pick someone else for the next week.”

“Byou,” Jin said, “what did you do to get cursed, anyway?”

“All I did was turn someone down,” Byou said. “How the hell was I do know he was a warlock?”

“Hidden Wise Folk,” Jin said, quietly.

“What?” Byou said.

“Never mind,” Jin said. “What happened?”

“He lived down the hall from me,” Byou said. “Kept wanting me to have an affair with him. I turned him down – and then he somehow slipped drugs into my tea and kidnapped me. Next thing I know, I’m in his apartment and he’s performing this spell, and ever since then I haven’t been able to date anyone for more than seven days. And the thing that would break the spell would be meeting someone who wanted a real relationship with me instead of sex – but nobody ever did.”

“That’s over,” Jin said, leaning over and hugging Byou. “Nobody’s ever going to do that do you again.”

“You . . . you meant it?” Byou said. “You want to try building a real relationship with me?”

“Yes,” Jin said. “I meant every word. You’re a wonderful guy. You really are. You deserve so goddamn much more than what you had, and, well . . . I want a shot at being the one who gives it to you. So, yeah . . . I’d like to keep dating. If it’s okay with you, that is.”

“It’s more than okay with me,” Byou said. He hugged Jin tightly. “I can’t believe this! I’m finally free of this . . . thing. I can breathe again. I don’t have to worry about who I’m going to be with for the next seven days again – and I don’t have to say goodbye to that person at the end.”

“There doesn’t have to be an end,” Jin said. “Not until we decide there is.” He stood up and held out a hand to Byou.

Byou took the hand and let Jin help him to his feet. “So where do you want to go tonight?” he said. “We still have a date, you know.”

“Let’s just go to the bar down the street,” Jin said. “The one where Kazuki works. And we’ll let the cult watch us and wonder.”

They walked out of the apartment and headed back down the hall, hand-in-hand – not noticing the pink head sticking out of the door by the elevator, watching them.

Yuuki had sensed it. He’d felt the curse breaking – and he was pleased.

“Well done, my friend,” he whispered to Jin. “Well done.”

* * *

That night, they just went to the bar, and had a quiet drink in the corner. They were a lot more relaxed than on their previous dates, given that they didn’t have the curse hanging over their heads. And for once, Byou was able to talk about previous relationships.

“I was in love once, about five years ago,” he said. “He was the photographer who mentored me when I first started. It was pretty intense – but it fell apart. Too big a difference in ages. But I never forgot how that felt, and I wanted that feeling back.”

“So you wanted to meet someone else and fall in love,” Jin said. “But the curse made that impossible.”

“Bingo,” Byou said. “And that was horrible. It was like the curse was controlling everything I did. There were times that it made me feel like a passenger in my own body. I wanted to date someone longer, to get to know him or her – and it always forced me to shut the relationship down after seven days.”

“Because they always had sex with you early in the relationship,” Jin said.

“That’s the other thing the curse always made me do,” Byou said. “I always put the moves on them, and they always responded. As soon as they gave in, as soon as they saw me as a sex object, it was over. With you, I knew it was different from the beginning. You didn’t give in. You resisted – and part of me was hoping like hell you were the one who would finally break it. But I didn’t let myself get too optimistic.”

“It was touch and go a couple of times,” Jin said. “You’re pretty damn hard to resist, you know.” He reached for Byou’s hand. “And I think I’d better resist you tonight, just to be safe. We don’t want to risk re-activating it.”

“But after tonight?” Byou said.

“We’re going to play it by ear,” Jin said. “I think we both want to see where this goes from here.”

They went back to the apartment building and pushed the button for the elevator. “It’s going to be interesting to see the faces of the cult members tomorrow,” Jin said. “When they see you’re with the same person tomorrow that you were with today . . .”

“They’ll hit the floor, I’m sure,” Byou said. “It’s the last thing in the world they’ll be expecting.” The elevator arrived. “Meet me down here tomorrow morning first thing?”

“You’d better believe it,” Jin said.

Sure enough, the next morning, Jin waited in the lobby for Byou to show up, and they walked toward the street together. “Our one-week anniversary,” Jin said.

“You don’t know how good it is to hear someone say that,” Byou replied.

They walked out onto the street – and almost immediately saw one of the male cult members. “Byou-san . .” he said – and then noticed Jin. “Um, what . . .”

“Sorry,” Byou said. “I’m already taken.”

“But . . . but he was with you last week . . .”

“Exactly,” Byou said. “Things will be different now!”

They ran into a female cult member half a block away. She just stared at Jin open-mouthed, thinking, but he was last week’s person . . .

Jin almost felt sorry for them. But none of them had been able to break the curse. That was his honor, and his alone. Quietly, he wondered if Yuuki had tried getting to any of them – or if he had been the only one.

Not that it mattered. All that mattered was that Byou was free of his curse now, and they were free to see where their relationship was going to go from here.

* * *

As it turned out, it was another couple of days of dating before their relationship advanced to the next level.

Byou proposed that rather than go out that night, they have a pizza-and-movies evening at his place. “I like that idea,” Jin replied. “I’ve had enough of getting dressed and going out for awhile.”

He showed up at Byou’s doorstep bearing a six-pack of beer. “I figured I’d be a good guest,” he said.

“It’s appreciated,” Byou said, taking the beer from him and putting it in the fridge. “And let me know what you want on your pizza.”

“I’m easy on that, long as there’s no pineapple involved,” Jin said. He looked around the apartment. “This is the first time I’ve been here.” It was furnished with a black couch and chair, a glass table, a wide-screen TV with a couple of gaming consoles . . .and framed photos. A lot of them. “Your pictures?”

“Yes,” Byou said. “Most of them were taken . . . before.” 

Before the curse, Jin thought. You could tell – the shots were of subjects like a grove of sakura in the spring, children at a festival, people lined up at a takoyaki booth . . and they had a warmth and energy to them.

In contrast, there was a black-and-white photo of a single tree in an empty field that exuded loneliness and pain. “Except this one?” Jin said.

“Yes,” Byou said. “That was . . . after.”

Jin looked at the picture closer. It was very obvious how badly the curse had affected Byou. Surrounded by admirers, yet always alone. He was more glad than ever that he’d broken it.

“You didn’t deserve it,” Jin said, quietly. “None of it. Not at all.” He looked over at Byou. “Maybe it really was fate that I moved into this building, you know? Fate, or karma, or something.”

“Or something,” Byou said. “It was _something_ that did this to me in the first place, and I try not to think too hard about any of it.” He walked up behind Jin. “I just think . . .”

“Just think what?” Jin turned around to face him.

Suddenly, Byou closed the distance between them, pushing Jin up against the wall and kissing him hard. Jin let out a small noise in his throat, wrapping his arms around the other and quickly opening his lips, giving Byou a chance to explore.

And that he did, his tongue dancing in and out of Jin’s mouth as Byou pushed him harder against the wall, making Jin feel utterly trapped in place, but in the most delicious way imaginable. He was suddenly ablaze with heat through every bit of his body, and he wrapped a leg around his lover’s hip.

There’s no danger now, he thought. Nothing bad is going to happen if we have sex – so I’m going to make up for all the time we missed.

A small thrill ran through him as he felt Byou’s hand move down to the front of his pants and unzip it. He wanted to do this right here? Oh, HELL yes. He was more than down with that. And he reached for the other man’s zipper to return the favor, because the sooner they did this, the better.

The two men pushed at each other’s pants and underwear, trying to get them down and off, trying to free the aching lengths that they’d denied themselves touching for so long. With a lot of pushing and wriggling, they managed to do it.

Their mouths connected hotly again as Jin wrapped his fingers around Byou’s growing erection, stroking it slowly, thinking it felt so damn good in his hand, even better than he’d imagined during all his fantasies of this act. He made sure he listened for every noise the other man made, trying to gauge where the most sensitive places were . . .

Except it was damn hard to concentrate when Byou was doing the same thing to him, his fingers sliding up and down and all around Jin’s hardness, caressing the base of it for a good, long time – almost enough to drive Jin mad – before moving upward again, pausing right under the tip as well, rubbing back and forth until Jin let out a long, low moan.

And then, at the height of the dizzy, heady sensation, Byou made it even more intense – by moving his mouth quickly down to Jin’s shoulder and biting through the shirt, hard enough to cause a quick shock of pain – which made Jin cry out, “Fuck, oh, fuck!” He was clinging to Byou with one hand, stroking his cock faster with the other, the pleasure and pain blurring together into one heady sensation that was making him moan and tremble. When his new lover bit him again, he let out a loud moan and relaxed his grip, because there was no way he could keep doing that, no way he could focus, not with this going on . . .

Byou dropped to his knees, his tongue quickly finding the head of Jin’s cock and rubbing back and forth across it, before he slid down on it gradually, taking it in little by little. His hands reached for the other man’s ass, squeezing it hard, then pinching, another quick shock of pain that made Jin shudder.

Jin panted, trembling harder as Byou began to suck him hard, moving his head up and down rapidly, taking him in deeper with every downstroke. His hands moved up over his shirt, unfastening it and pushing it off, because, dammit, Jin wanted, needed to be fully naked for this.

And fuck, Byou was well aware of it, because one hand slid up Jin’s body to stroke and play with a nipple as he sucked harder, moving down deeper still, until he felt like he was swallowing Jin whole – and Jin sure as hell didn’t mind. Fuck, no. He pumped his hips, moving in and out of Byou’s mouth, feeling like he was burning up from the inside out, he wasn’t going to last too much longer . . .

When Byou pinched his nipple, the last of his control broke. He cried out loudly, the climax shooting through his body like wildfire, and Byou continued to suck him, swallowing everything Jin had to give, until Jin sank down to his knees, feeling completely boneless and utterly blissful.

He remained there for a long moment, just panting loudly . . . until he looked up and saw Byou’s erection above him. His new lover still needed to be satisfied – and he was going to give back what he’d just received.

Jin moved up so he could kiss along Byou’s length, sliding his tongue over it until he reached the tip. He wrapped his lips around it for a moment, then pulled back and away, then took it in again, starting to suck rapidly.

He slid down on it, slowly, savoring the sensation of it moving over his lips and tongue, the way Byou’s hands moved over his hair, tugging on it a little – which just spurred him to start moving faster. He sucked harder, listening for moans, wanting to know he was giving back the same pleasure he had received, that Byou was enjoying this as much as he was. When he felt Byou start to move his hips, to thrust deeper into his mouth, he intensified the sucking, reaching down to stroke his lover’s balls, coaxing him toward climax . . . he tasted precome, felt the hands in his hair tangle themselves in the strands, pulling a bit harder . . .

Byou suddenly let out a hoarse cry, and Jin pulled back, quickly, so he could catch his new lover’s come in the face. He felt it splatter over his cheeks and lips, and it was glorious. He licked at the droplets, purring in contentment.

When Byou fell down to his knees in front of him, Jin kissed him, tenderly, and they clung to each other for a long moment. After all that temptation, all that resistance, it had finally happened between them. They’d both given in – and it was glorious.

“I feel like I’ve waited all my life for that,” Byou panted.

“Me, too,” Jin replied. “Oh, fuck . . . it was worth it.”

“You’re never going to get rid of me now,” Byou said. “Just so you know.”

Jin thought of the long, lonely time when Byou wasn’t able to say that to anyone, when he was stuck with nothing in his life but fleeting flings, no matter how much he’d been initially attracted to the other person.

Those days are over now, he thought. Over for good.

“I don’t think either of us is going to mind that at all,” he said.

* * *

EPILOGUE

Within a few months of the start of their relationship, Jin moved upstairs into Byou’s apartment. It was a natural progression. They were spending every moment they could together, anyway – so why not move in under one roof?

The Byou cult hung around for the first few weeks after they started dating – casting wistful glances at the couple across Kazuki’s bar, making sure they got in Byou’s path every Monday, just in case he’d changed his mind about this dating-one-person thing and wanted to go back to his old ways. No such luck – for them. Eventually, they gave up on the whole thing, accepted that Byou and Jin were an eternal item, and drifted away.

Jin occasionally caught a glimpse of Yuuki around the building – but the pink-haired man rarely spoke to him beyond asking how things were going with the couple. “Fabulous,” Jin told him. “Completely fabulous – thanks to you.”

“No, it was thanks to you,” Yuuki said. “Only a strong and steady heart could have broken the curse. You were the right person to do it.”

But before Jin could ask him for more clarification on what he meant, Yuuki always walked away. And Jin realized it didn’t really matter. He was meant to cross Byou’s path and rescue him from his lonely life. Whether it was because of fate, magic or something else, it didn’t matter.

All that mattered was the two of them were together, week after week. And that wasn’t going to change, no matter what.


End file.
